1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for selecting a bat.
2. Description of the Background Art
In sports using a bat and a ball, whether a batter succeeds or fails depends on his/her ability to hit the ball. Bats used in baseball, softball, and the like, which are typical such sports, have various types based on differences in weight, length, size, shape, material, and the like. On the other hand, a suitable bat varies from batter to batter, depending on his/her body weight, body height, physical ability, and the like.
When a bat is not suitable for a batter, the batter cannot show his/her ability to the fullest, and cannot obtain a result as desired. Accordingly, it is extremely important for the batter to select a bat suitable for himself/herself in order to perform batting as desired.
Conventionally, a customer (batter) has usually purchased a bat based on the experience of store staff of a sports store. Thus, selection of a bat suitable for a batter has frequently depended on the experience of store staff. Therefore, techniques for selecting a bat suitable for a batter through quantitative evaluation have been proposed.
For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2011-142927 discloses a bat selection system selecting a bat suitable for a batter. The bat selection system includes a sensor bat and a data analyzer. The sensor bat includes a kinematic information detection unit, a bat balance adjustment unit, and a transmission unit transmitting data detected by the kinematic information detection unit. The data analyzer includes a type input unit inputting a type aimed at by a batter, a data reception unit receiving data transmitted from the sensor bat, a kinematic information calculation unit calculating kinematic information from the received data, a bat selection unit selecting a bat suitable for the batter based on an evaluation parameter of swing of the batter calculated by analyzing the kinematic information and the type aimed at by the batter, and display means displaying a selected bat and information related to the evaluation parameter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,102 discloses a device determining a bat weight most suitable for a particular individual by calculating a bouncing speed of a ball assumed to have collided with the center of gravity of a bat.
However, according to the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2011-142927, the batter has to swing a special bat not used in an actual game and the like. Further, since it is necessary for the technique to prepare a special bat, it results in a complicated system configuration. Therefore, there is a need for a technique for selecting a bat without using a special bat and without complicating a system configuration.
In addition, according to the technique disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,102, since the moment of inertia of the bat is not taken into consideration, it is not possible to accurately provide a bat most suitable for a batter. Therefore, there is a need for a technique for selecting a bat taking the moment of inertia of the bat into consideration.